By Jessica Kenney

Somerville is home to many popular restaurants and cafés, but it is the relatively new restaurant, Fat Hen, that is really starting to snag people’s attention.

Fat Hen is a cozy, Italian dining spot that serves a variety of Italy’s staple meals, from Tortellini Brodo to Sformato, complimented by a variety of different wines. But it isn’t just the menu that makes this restaurant intriguing; its unique location is also drawing in guests.

Join the Somerville Chamber of Commerce for their monthly “After Hours” this Thursday, January 5 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. at the Foundry on Elm in Davis Square. Hosted by Chamber Business After Hours Chair Dana Iacopucci of Cubby Oil & Energy. Bring your business card, this is a great networking meeting for businesses here in the city. RSVP with name(s) and affiliation(s) for you and your guest(s) to smackey@somervillechamber.org.

Katie Wallace hard at work. ~ Photo by Maja de Silva

By Kristen Strezo, Somerville Commission for Women

I would love for readers to meet the dedicated members of the Somerville Commission for Women. Our longtime member, Katie Wallace, is an excellent place to start.

Wallace, who has lived in Somerville for 24 years, joined the commission in 1998. I took a moment to ask Wallace about her political and personal work here in Somerville and how it looks like moving forward.

Your 2016 Yawkey Baseball League Champions, Somerville Alibrandis.

By Tom Bannister

The City of Somerville once again proved itself to be a winning force in 2016 as far as sports is concerned.

Somerville Alibrandis:

The phenominal Somerville Alibrandis baseball team won its 7th consecutive title in the Yawkey League 2016 championship series, the teams 17th title in total.

On the series win, Mark Desroches reported:

The city we are blessed to live in is steeped in historical heritage, and specifically enjoys a special distinction in the saga of the American Revolution as we take part in the annual observance of the raising of the Grand Union Flag at Prospect Hill.

This year marks the 241st anniversary of the event that many came together to celebrate with a heady mixture of patriotism and pride in community. Politicos and the general public rubbed shoulders and marked the occasion by sharing their collective sense of awe and gratitude for the sacrifices made and the victories achieved so many generations ago.

By Charles Lane

The City of Somerville’s Council on Aging has provided a number of important tax tips for seniors, which we present here:

Taxpayers should be aware of a significant change to the Tax Deferral, Clause 41A program put forth by the Mayor and approved by the Board of Aldermen in FY 2016.  Clause 41A allows those 65 and older to defer up to 100% of their property taxes until such time that the property is sold or upon the death of the applicant.  Prior to FY 2016, deferred taxes were assessed an annual interest charge of 8% and an applicant’s income could not exceed $40,000.  With the change enacted by the City, the interest rate has been lowered to 4% per year and income limit has been increased to the maximum allowed at $56,000.

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Somerville poet Bert Stern has been selected to be the next recipient of the Ibbetson Street Press Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award has been presented to such literary figures as Robert Pinsky, Frank Bidart, Afaa Michael Weaver, Harris Gardner , Gloria Mindock, Robert K. Johnson, Louisa Solano, David Godine, Sam Cornish, Jack Powers, to name a few.

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Somerville Poet Bridget Seley-Galway is an artist/poet. Her art has graced several covers of Ibbetson Press, and Bagels with the Bards, as well as Doug Holder’s Eating Grief at 3AM, and Molly Lynn Watts’ On the Wings of Song- A Journey into the Civil Rights Era. Her poetry was published from 2001-2002 in Provincetown Magazine’s Poetry Corner, 2011-12 Popt Art Magazine, 2009-2014, 2009-2016, Bagel with the Bards, Ibbetson Press #34, 39, and 2016 Poetry Porch, an online poetry journal. Her art has been exhibited throughout New England. She was arts editor/curator for Wilderness House Literary Review 2009-2012. In 1990 co-founded/directed El Arco Iris, Free Youth Arts Center in Holyoke, and in 2014 procured funding to establish and facilitate Youth Arts Arise, a free after school program at Arts at the Armory in Somerville, Ma.

~Photos by Donald Norton

In its annual tradition, the City of Somerville kicked off the New Year (and Somerville’s 175th Birthday celebrations) on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017, with a reenactment ceremony for the 241st anniversary of the “Grand Union” flag-raising ceremony at Prospect Hill Park. The ceremony began at Prospect Hill at noon, a processional led by a re-enactor portraying General George Washington on horseback left the City Hall Concourse at 11:30 a.m. The annual ceremony commemorates the raising of the nation’s first official flag, featuring thirteen red and white horizontal stripes, atop Prospect Hill on New Year’s Day, 1776. At the time, Prospect Hill was a key site in a string of fortifications created by Washington and the Continental Army in their siege of British troops in Boston during the first year of the American Revolution.

Arrests:
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Tania Silva, December 27, 1:34 a.m., arrested at Memorial Rd. on warrant charges of disorderly conduct, assault and battery, and assault.

Joseph Day, of 36 Claremont St., December 27, 11:27 a.m., arrested at Cedar St. on a warrant charge of refusal to provide DNA database sample.